Goa is India's smallest state on the west coast, and its writers have written in many diverse languages. Poetry is a small and scattered field in the region, and this page makes an attempt to acknowledge those who have contributed to the field. It includes those listed below who have contributed to poetry in and from Goa, as well as those writing poetry in Goa. Poetry related to Goa (specially by those from the region) is known to have been written in Konkani (in the officially-acknowledged Devanagari and the popularly-used Roman scripts, apart from others), in Portuguese, English and Marathi, apart from other regional, national and international languages to a lesser extent.
Father Thomas Stephens, an English Jesuit living in Goa, "wrote the first Konkani grammar book and an epic 11,000-line Marathi poem, now regarded as a classic." [1]
Eunice de Souza, herself a prominent poet in English, writes: [2] "Joseph Furtado, who wrote in English and in Portuguese was one of the first poets to use what we now call “Indian English.” “Fortune teller, memsahib!/Tell fortune very well…/” There’s the great modernist, F N Souza. And we are probably the only people in the world to write an ode to sorpotel! In addition, poets such as the late Santan Rodrigues, Melanie Silgardo, and Raul da Gama Rose played an important role in poetry in English in the 1970s. They started a poets’ cooperative named Newground and published some volumes of poetry. Melanie, who has been living in London for some years recently co-edited with me an anthology called These My Words, The Penguin Book of Indian Poetry which includes translations of poems in all Indian languages, and poems in English."
Augusto Pinto, reviewer, writes of Joseph "Furtado, who passed away in 1947 at the age of 75, was one of the finest Indian English poets of his time" in a detailed article in the Himal magazine, published from Kathmandu [3]
Peter Nazareth, the editor of the first anthology in English of Goan writing, comments: [4] "I found some of the literature very strange, particularly poetry written before the fifties. The subjects seemed hopelessly romantic, the treatment archaic, the psyche concerned with the irrelevant. Was it just because I was out of touch? Or was it that being involved with the exciting, creative, literature of a whole continent, Africa, my responses were sound: that Goan writers were trapped in a deep, airless well?"
Goa Today, the monthly magazine from the region, has an article [5] on Goan poets in English.
Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of the Indian state of Goa. It is also spoken in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat as well as Damaon, Diu & Silvassa.
Goan literature is the literature pertaining to the state of Goa in India.
Goan Catholics are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians adhering to the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church from the Goa state, in the southern part of the Konkan region along the west coast of India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language.
Goans is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, Austro-Asiatic ethnic and/or linguistic ancestries. They speak different dialects of the Konkani language, collectively known as Goan Konkani. "Goanese", although sometimes used, is an incorrect term for Goans.
Balakrishna Bhagwant Borkar was a poet from Goa, India.
Goan Catholic literature is diverse.
The indigenous population of the erstwhile Portuguese colony of Goa, Daman and Diu underwent Christianisation following the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510, which was followed by the Goa Inquisition from 1560 onwards. The converts in the Velhas Conquistas to Roman Catholicism were then granted full Portuguese citizenship. Almost all present-day Goan Catholics are descendants of these native converts; they constitute the largest Indian Christian community of Goa state and account for 25 percent of the population.
The Christian population of Goa are almost entirely Goan Catholics, whose ancestors converted to Christianity during the Portuguese rule in India. Christianisation followed the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510, which was followed by the Goa Inquisition from 1560 onwards. The Hindu population is mostly descended from immigrants from other states of India, who have been arriving in Goa since the last century There is a higher proportion of Christians in Velhas Conquistas than in Novas Conquistas.
Diogo do Couto was a Portuguese historian.
José Gerson da Cunha was a Goan physician who achieved international renown as an indologist, historian, linguist and numismatist.
Goa Today is a monthly magazine published from Panjim (Panaji), the state-capital of Goa, India, since 1966, featuring news, literature and local issues. Goa Today is considered the "grand-daddy" of all monthly magazines in Goa. It was founded by Francisco Damasceno do Rosario Dantas and former joint-editor of Navhind Times, Lambert Mascarenhas, who was awarded the Gomant Vibhushan Award, the highest civilian award of Goa in 2014.
Sudesh Lotlikar is an Indian Marathi and Konkani poet, producer and director of documentary films.
Joseph Furtado was an early South Asian poet and novelist who wrote in the English language. He has been praised as 'one of Goa’s best poets', albeit now 'in the shadows, pushed to the margins and somewhat forgotten'.
Alberto de Noronha was a Goan writer and translator.
Ramesh Bhagvant Veluskar was an Indian Konkani poet and litterateur. He died on 21 October 2018 at Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.
The Goa Arts and Literature Festival (GALF) is an annual literary festival which takes place in the Indian coastal state of Goa, each December. It was founded in 2010.
Madhav Borkar is a noted Konkani poet, former station director of All India Radio and Konkani litterateur based in Goa, India.
Isidore Dantas is an Indian writer, translator, Wikipedia editor, and lexicographer known for his work in the Konkani language and Konkani Wikipedia. Noted for his interest in Konkani films, he is best known for his book on Konkani cinema Konkani Cholchitram and for having co-authored an English-to-Konkani dictionary. He has authored five books, co-authored a dictionary, and translated two books.
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